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The One Man: The Riveting and Intense Bestselling WWII Thriller
The One Man: The Riveting and Intense Bestselling WWII Thriller
The One Man: The Riveting and Intense Bestselling WWII Thriller
Audiobook12 hours

The One Man: The Riveting and Intense Bestselling WWII Thriller

Written by Andrew Gross

Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

"Actor Ballerini turns the scene into a fascinating radio drama...These conversational moments, delicately crafted by Gross and splendidly performed by Ballerini, have a profound effect on the novel's equally well-enacted, action-filled, breathless escape sequence." — Publishers Weekly

1944. Physics professor Alfred Mendel and his family were trying to flee Paris when they were caught and forced onto a train, along with thousands of other Jewish families. At the other end of the long, torturous train ride, Alfred is separated from his family and sent to the men’s camp, where all of his belongings are tossed on a roaring fire. His books, his papers, his life’s work. The Nazis have no idea what they have just destroyed. And without that physical record, Alfred is one of only two people in the world with his particular knowledge. Knowledge that could start a war, or end it.

Nathan Blum works behind a desk at an intelligence office in Washington, DC, but he longs to contribute to the war effort in a more meaningful way, and he has a particular skill set the U.S. suddenly needs. Nathan is fluent in German and Polish, and he proved his scrappiness at a young age when he escaped from the Krakow ghetto. Now, the government wants him to take on the most dangerous assignment of his life: Nathan must sneak into Auschwitz, on a mission to find and escape with one man.

This historical thriller from New York Times bestseller Andrew Gross is a deeply affecting, unputdownable series of twists and turns through a landscape at times horrifyingly familiar but still completely compelling.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 23, 2016
ISBN9781427279873
The One Man: The Riveting and Intense Bestselling WWII Thriller
Author

Andrew Gross

Andrew Gross is the author of the New York Times and international bestsellers Everything to Lose, No Way Back, 15 Seconds, Eyes Wide Open, Reckless, Don't Look Back, The Dark Tide, and The Blue Zone. He is also coauthor of five number one bestsellers with James Patterson, including Judge & Jury and Lifeguard. His books have been translated into more than twenty-five languages.

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Reviews for The One Man

Rating: 4.146551712643678 out of 5 stars
4/5

174 ratings33 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A real page turner that, while technically fiction, is based on real events and real characters. The author did his homework in order to incorporate atomic physics into the plot in a believeable way. This will be the quickest 416 pages you’ve possibly ever read in a book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Very good story about the rescue of a prominent physicist from a concentration camp. The OSS has determined that an atomic physicist is an inmate in a concentration camp in Poland. A plan is devised to spirit him out with the help of the Polish Underground.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was such a very suspenseful and moving thriller that I hated it when I had to stop listening to the audiobook. There was excellent narration by Edoardo Ballerini. The book started with a rare escape from Auschwitz by two prisoners, but the drama really amped up with a crazy plot to get Nathan Bloom, a young American soldier, to infiltrate Auschwitz in order to smuggle out a Polish physicist whose research was vital to the Manhattan Project. This was a story of amazing courage and strength from Nathan, the resistance fighters who risked their lives to help him and the prisoners who found ways to survive the hell that was being inflicted upon them. The Nazis weren't easy to trick. My only quibble with the book is that I think it would have been better without the prologue and the final chapter. The prologue sort of spoiled the outcome of the book and the final chapter was too similar to the end of "City of Thieves", and together they were too sentimental for me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is one of the best books ever. Kept me on the edge of my seat. I love how Gross wove history through this novel.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5

    One of the best books I have ever heard
    It is a real page turner and keeps you on edge the whole time
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The One Man is a compelling combination of history and fiction about the US's efforts to bring out a scientist from Auschwitz. To do so, they send an Army Lieutenant of Polish decent to do the job. First he has to do the unthinkable. Get inside the infamous death camp, locate one mad, and bring him back to the US. He has only 72 hours to complete his mission. If successful, he will turn the tide of World War II in the Allies favor.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    4.5 (there are no half stars) LOVED IT! I couldn't put it down! Improbable, yes. But what a great story in my favorite time period for historical fiction.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great thriller. The plot fits together like a puzzle, it is very readable, and the setting was interesting. (My only real complaint is that *all* the pieces fit together, which feels a little too artificial.)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a departure from what Andrew Gross usually writes. It is the story of a daring rescue attempt of a physicist, Alfred Mendl, from Auschwitz.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A real page turner that, while technically fiction, is based on real events and real characters. The author did his homework in order to incorporate atomic physics into the plot in a believeable way. This will be the quickest 416 pages you’ve possibly ever read in a book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Gripping from the start. A thriller told from the perspective of an incident during the Second World War. You don’t know til the end who survives and who, if any don’t. Also very good historical research done.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A mostly engrossing account of the rescue of a physicist from a concentration camp. I "read" this on audio tape, which may account for feeling like some of the "goodby" scenes in the book dragged on far longer than they should have, given the urgency of the situations.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The One Man: A Novel-Andrew Gross, author; Edouardo Ballerini, narratorA young Jewish man escapes from Nazi occupied Poland and resettles in America. He discovers that his entire family has been wiped out by Hitler and is consumed with guilt because he escaped, while they did not. When he is asked to volunteer for a very dangerous “top secret” mission, he believes it will be an opportunity to redeem himself, and he agrees. Franklin Delano Roosevelt has personally thanked him for accepting this assignment. Nathan Blum is tasked with sneaking into Oswiecim, in Poland in order to secretly enter the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. The Americans want him to extract a scientist, Alfred Mendl. He is a physicist who might be able to help them develop the atom bomb before the Germans succeed in the same effort. A qualified team has already been assembled, and he is the final missing piece. Essentially, it sounds like a suicide mission because no one who enters Auschwitz ever leaves alive, let aloneBlum is dropped into a forest in Poland and secretly joins a work force when it returns to the camp. He has three days to complete the mission. He witnessed, first hand, the terrible suffering of the prisoners and the almost impossibility of surviving in the brutal environment of the camp. Hitler’s minions were sadists who had no compunction about inflicting pain or death. Into this mix came a romance that was difficult to believe, between the Commandant’s wife and a teenaged boy, Leo. Leo was a fabulous chess player and was gifted with a fantastic memory. He happened to be the camp chess champion. The Commandant’s wife was a lover of chess and soon had him brought to her home for afternoon matches. An unusual friendship developed. When Mendl discovered Leo’s ability to memorize everything, he decided to teach him his formulas. The Nazis had destroyed his work, not realizing its importance. He wanted Leo to commit all of his formulas on fusion to memory. They had destroyed his notes and this was his only way to preserve them.When Blum found Mendl, which was difficult to believe since the inmates did not answer to a name, but instead to a number, he attempted to explain his mission to him. Mendl had some trepidation about the plan; he did not want to agree. When he finally did, he had one condition. He would only go if he could take Leo with him. The ensuing conversation turned the tide of the escape because when Nathan made a shocking discovery, he was reminded of Mendl’s words. He had asked Blum about what type of person would leave their flesh and blood behind while saving themselves. Blum was faced with a huge predicament.The book took a bit too much melodrama. The excessive number of twists and turns made it tedious much of the time. The author seemed to be trying to create far too much tension. Every time the reader thought a turning point had been reached, something would happen to stall the momentum. An incredible tangent might be created or another near miss would occur that prevented the successful completion of the task. In the end, there were simply too many diversions in the book for the pace to remain steady. After awhile, it did not feel authentic because even a minor student of history would be aware of the horrors of the Holocaust and its eventual outcome. Creating a fiction around it that seemed implausible simply didn’t work that well. The reader would know that it could never happen the way it was presented. In addition, the plan seemed to be doomed to fail because no one could cheat death so many times during that period in history. It was luck that kept some people alive, but when would luck eventually run out? The only thing that really kept me interested was the question of Bloom’s success or failure, but it took too long to get there.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    DNF @ 24%. I was really looking forward to the heart-stopping thriller that all my friends have read but for some reason I just can't get into this.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The Nazis, the Holocaust, and the race to develop the atom bomb are subjects that never get tired: this well-researched action adventure combines all three.Despite co-authoring five books with James Patterson, Andrew Gross is a good writer, and this story is close to his religious and cultural roots: the US sends a spy to infiltrate Auschwitz and rescue a Jewish scientist, the One Man with the knowledge the Manhattan Projects desperately needs. Chess, electromagnetic physics, Judaism, political pragmatism, Great escapes, romance, and a couple of exciting twists, The One Man is the perfect distraction, and not just for WW2 buffs.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    THIS BOOK! Wonderful audiobook! This is definitely my favorite book of 2017 so far. I really don't have words to describe how much I hated being away from this novel!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A physicist with specialized knowledge is swept into Auschwitz with other Jews. The United States wants him and what he knows about bomb creation - so they send someone undercover into Auschwitz to try and get him out.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This s a top-notch thriller on every level. Gross has created a novel that will endure through the ages, I'm sure. It's probably one of the best fiction novels that I've read on the Holocaust and Auschwitz. It's realistic and visceral. I was fortunate enough to read "By Chance Alone: A Remarlable True Story Of Courage and Survival in Auschwitz" by Max Eisen. Mr. Eisen was an actual prisoner in Auschwitz during the Second World War and he wrote of his experiences while he was a prisoner there. He was the only one to survive from his entire family. When the war is over, he made his way to Canada since. "By Chance Alone" was a non-fiction book. "The One Man" is fiction, but there are very many similarities between Mr. Eisen's true account and Mr. Gross's fictional account of life in Auschwitz. This book is of the suspense thriller genre, and it certainly does belong in that genre. It never let me go from the minute that I started it, until the very end. It is about a young Polish Jew who managed to get out of Poland in 1941. He is lviing in America and has joined the American army. Nathan Blum continues to feel guilty for leaving his family behind when he embarked on his dangerous journey to America in order to save a rare and valuable Jewish text. He is asked by his superiors and the President of the United States himself to embark on a solo mission in order bring out a very important scientist by the name of Albert Mend who is incarcerated in Auschwitzl. In order to do so, Blum has to be snuck into Auschwitz and take up the role of a prisoner for a time in order to find Mendl and get him out and to England. Blum never waivers from his task, even though being in the prison is so difficult mentally and physically. He shows extraordinary bravery and heart trying to complete his very difficult mission. It's all here in this book - the "showers" and the noxious smelling odours coming out of the ovens, the unrelenting work, disease, starvation, and cruelty endured by the prisoners in the prison. Blum experiences it all while he tries to find "the one man" he needs to find in this hellhole of a place. I highly recommend this book, but it is not one for the faint of heart. The book is unrelentless and horrifying. But at the same time there is humour, kindness and understanding displayed by the prisoners in this awful place. This book belongs on my special favourites list for sure.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    While there are some parts that you need to suspend your belief, this book kept me turning the pages. It's set during WWII and a physicist Alfred Mendl and his family are brought into a Nazi concentration camp. In the US, Nathan Blum is decoding messages from occupied Poland where he escaped from the Krakow ghetto earlier. Since learning that his entire family had been murdered by the Nazis, he wants to do more for the war effort. What is asked of him is the impossible...get into the concentration camp and bring Mendl out.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I read a lot of books about WWII but this was a completely different story than most of the books about this subject. Instead of trying to get out of Auschwitz, Nathan Blum's assignment for the US government is to get inside the prison camp and rescue one man - all in only 72 hours! Nathan is a recent immigrant from Poland who lost all of this family to the Nazis and barely got out of Poland in time. He is very conflicted about taking this assignment and going back to the country that he just escaped from. He agrees to help the Army with this project, knowing that he has a very small chance of surviving but he believes that what you do for one, you do for many. He feels that he failed to help his family and needs to do something for the greater good of mankind. The man that the government wants rescued is a doctor who holds the rest of the secret to creating the atomic bomb and the US wants to be sure that they beat Germany in this race.This is definitely a thriller set in a difficult place and time period. I loved it.I listened to this book on audio and thought that the narrator did a fantastic job that enhanced the story.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A very interesting story. The concept was unique, easy to follow, and fairly compelling. The plot moved along from the initial pages right through the conclusion. While the story was well formulated and the descriptions of the conditions in Auschwitz were chilling - the book seemed to drag and was rather far fetched. A mission like the one depicted seems rather unlikely.Historical fiction, for my taste, needs to be a bit more plausible.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Alfred Mendl is one of a few people who has researched how to separate chemical components, more specifically the compounds needed to build the atomic bomb. When he is sent to Auschwitz, the American intelligent community decides that it must do whatever it takes to extract him. They send Nathan Blum, a young man who escaped the Polish ghetto, moved to the states and enlisted in the army. Nathan is told very little about his mission or the importance of Alfred. In the camp, Alfred befriends Leo, a teenager with a photographic memory. Painstakingly, Alfred teaches Leo, going over and over the information he has spent a lifetime learning.I thought this was a riveting book. The characters were fascinating, and the plot was spun out neatly, piece-by-piece. My only criticism is that the constant jumping back and forth in time quickly grew old. Although the book became a bit predictable once Leo was introduced into the plot, the book still held surprises. Overall, highly recommended.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    In The One Man, Andrew Gross tells a story about the US government's efforts to rescue one man from Auschwitz so that he can help them win the race against the Germans for the atomic bomb.

    Alfred Mendl is a physics professor who was trying to make his way to America when he and his family were transported to Auschwitz. His entire life's work was destroyed until he meets a teenage chess prodigy with an eidetic memory and the ability to remember huge amounts of data. Mendl decides to teach him all his formulas in the hope that, someday, his work will survive.

    Nathan Blum escaped Poland early in the war and made his way to the United States where he joined the army. His ability to speak multiple languages led to his assignment in Intelligence but he wants to do more, especially since learning his family was killed by Nazis. He is asked to take on a potential suicide mission. He has to somehow get himself smuggled into Auschwitz, find out if Mendl is still alive, and get him out. He only has three days between being dropped off and being picked up. If he's discovered or can't make the rendezvous, his life will surely end in a terrifying and painful way.

    What a fantastic book. I've never really read anything by Andrew Gross, best known for his collaboration with James Patterson and standalone thrillers. The suspense is the driving force of the story and the plot never loses energy. The characters are wonderfully developed and I became so involved that I never wanted to book to end. Even the secondary characters make a tremendous impact. This is a beautifully written and heartbreaking novel that definitely had me on an emotional roller coaster. If you are sensitive to novels that deal with the Holocaust you might want to skip this, because they do document some of the atrocities during the story. It's inevitable in any novel set in Auschwitz. Otherwise, I can't recommend this book any higher. It's definitely going to be on my favorites list and I can't imagine it will not make my Top Five favorites of 2016.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    If you have ever read any books written by Andrew Gross and thought you had him pegged, think again. This historical thriller was not what I would have expected. It is an amazing read that kept me turning the pages except when I had to put it down to get a handle on my emotions.The One Man is set during WWII mainly in Auschwitz. The United States is on a mission to save Dr. Alfred Mendl, a Jewish Pole who just happens to be an electromagnetic physics professor who is a resident of Auschwitz. They are convinced that what he knows will knock at least six months off the race to create the atomic bomb (and win the war). They are considering the unthinkable, sending someone to break into Auschwitz to get Mendl out.Nathan Blum escaped from the Polish ghetto in Krakow a few years earlier and when he arrived in the U.S. he joined the army. He always felt guilty about leaving his parents and sister behind, even though it was their request. He learned that they were killed in the ghetto in retribution for the killing of a Gestapo officer. He is currently working at a desk job as an Intelligence Officer in the United States Army, but has made no secret of the fact that he wanted to do more. Because he speaks Polish and German, he was approached to take on the top secret mission. Blum agrees to break into Auschwitz to rescue Mendl and bring him back to the United States.The story that Andrew Gross has written is mesmerizing. It is exciting, creative, emotional and moves very quickly. This is not a memoir, but the descriptions of life in the camp are gut-wrenching and similar to many I have read in other books. The ending of this book had me tearing up, it was a totally unexpected ending, but once I read it, it was very fitting.I definitely recommend this book! If you like historical fiction, you will enjoy this book. If you like reading about WWII, you will like this book. If you enjoy a good thriller/suspenseful read, you will like this book. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley. This did not affect my review in any way.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The most compelling element of Andrew Gross’ thriller, THE ONE MAN, is the setting. His descriptions of Nazi brutality at Auschwitz in the spring of 1944 are chilling and quite realistic. Murder is casual and without consequence or remorse, starvation is the norm, disease is rampant, the most rudimentary hygiene is nonexistent and hopelessness pervades everywhere.The plot has several outlandish elements that detract from the enjoyment of the novel. The Allies and Germans were struggling to make an atom bomb and the Allies need just one component to purify of sufficient quantities of fissionable uranium to make a bomb. It turns out that the one man who had solved that riddle was Dr. Alfred Mendl, who was a being detained at Auschwitz by the Nazis. How Mendl knows exactly what the Allies need, or how the Nazis overlook this prominent scientist remains unclear. The American decision to spring Mendl from Auschwitz using an untested Polish refugee, Nathan Blum, seems bizarre. But the strangeness doesn’t stop there. Brutish guards destroy Mendl’s notes and his only recourse becomes teaching Leo Wolciek, a young chess master with an unusually good memory, to learn complex physical formulas, despite his having absolutely no background in physics. Any reader who is paying attention would realize that this tactic would become important to save the day before the story ends. Likewise, Leo is paired with the empathic and beautiful young wife of the camp’s commandant because of their mutual interest in chess (among other things). Clearly, one also knows that this plot element will play before the final curtain. There is one further jaw dropping plot twist that truly begs credulity, but revealing it here would spoil the story. Suffice it to say that Blum has a shocking surprise in store for him at Auschwitz.Gross’ narrative is well paced to maintain a high level of suspense throughout. An unrelenting mood of threat pervades the story and fully engages the reader. The plotting is meticulous despite a strong sense of contrivance in many places. The characters are interesting but lack nuance. Important themes are mentioned (“how much one life is worth”) but not explored in depth.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    In 1944, Alfred Mendl and his family are captured trying to flee Paris with forged papers; a train brings them to a Nazi concentration camp in Poland. Separated from his family, he sees his life’s work burned by his captors. The renowned physicist holds knowledge that only two people in the world possess. And the other is already working for the Nazi war machine. In Washington, D.C., intelligence lieutenant Nathan Blum, who escaped the Krakow ghetto after the Nazis executed his family, decodes messages from occupied Poland. He wishes he could do more to help his new country in the war, and he gets the opportunity when the OSS asks him to sneak into the most guarded place on earth to find and escape with the one man the Allies believe can ensure their victory in the war.Tension fills each page of this narrative; compelling characters bring the story to life. Readers will find the heart-pounding plot twists and turns lead them to an unexpected turn of events in this unputdownable book.Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A totally different take on death camps. This time someone tries to get in and take out a scientist who is necessary to the Manhattan Project. Very well done with just the right amount of tension to keep you glued to the book. Of course, the horrors of such death camps is shown in all its nakedness and cruelty. All the characters are richly drawn and so is their relationships to each other.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a different kind of story. One that I really could not have imagined. I have read quite a few books written or co-written by Andrew Gross so I thought that I knew what to expect when I picked up this book but I was completely wrong. This book was so much more. I would have never even dreamed that a fictional mission set in such a vivid and horrible historical event could have even worked...but it did. This story is set during World War II with the majority of the book taking place inside Auschwitz. Despite the fact that this was a fictionalized story, there were parts of this book that were hard to read because of how realistic it was. There were moments in the book that honestly made my heart hurt. I thought that the parts of the story where we were really in the head of Alfred were some of the most powerful and emotional. Nathan Blum is a Jewish man who left Poland and now lives in the United States. He has been working in military intelligence but he is offered a very dangerous mission. The military wants him to go into Auschwitz and escape with one very important man. He agrees even though the odds are completely against him. Nathan proves to be not only incredibly brave but also very resourceful as he proceeds with his mission.Alfred has no idea that anyone may be trying to help him escape. He does know that he has very important knowledge that needs to be shared with the world. He meets a younger prisoner, Leo, who he feels is capable of learning and sharing this information when he is gone. The men form a bond as they spend time with each other and we do spend time with each of them at the camp.This was one of those stories that I really wasn't sure how things would end. I was really nervous as Nathan tried to complete his task at the camp. So many things could go wrong and they often did. There were a few complications and twists that I didn't see coming. This ended up being a heartbreaking and exciting story. I would recommend this book to others. I think that Andrew Gross did a fantastic job of creating a exciting mission inside of a well known historical event. I have enjoyed his work in the past but with this book, I think he has moved on to a whole new level. I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.I received an advance review copy of this book from St. Martin's Press - Minotaur Books via NetGalley for the purpose of providing an honest review.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    4.5 What a fantastic thriller, though it takes place in one of the most terrible and in the most horrific circumstances, ever created by man. Decided to give psychological thrillers a rest and return to police procedural and historical thrillers, and am so glad I did. I love this author, once met him at a book fair, and after reading Britany's review, (thanks, friend), knew I had to grab this one.A rescue mission to find and bring out the one man who can shorten the time needed to complete the making of the first atomic bomb. Seventy two hours, a race against time and I can't tell you the amount of time I spent holding my breath. Suspenseful, tightly plotted, possibly the author's best book to date. Respected the quest to stay as historically accurate as to the cruelty in the camps, those in charge and other circumstances that make reading books set during this time period so difficult. Loved the humanity of the invented characters, the reasons they acted as they did and the realism of the plot line. One can imagining things happening as they did. The ending slayed me, needed tissues. The author's note explains the reason he wrote this book, what he changed and what he moved around for stories sake. Always appreciated. An outstanding historical thriller, one of the best I have read in quite a while.ARC from Netgalley.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I received a free advance e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Wow!! ‘The One Man’ is a very well written historical thriller with an exceptional plot set during WW II. I really like the way the author tells the story. A daughter finds strange mementos as she goes through her deceased mother’s things and takes them with her on a visit to her father in the VA hospital and pleads with him to tell her the story behind them and what happened during the war. This is his story as he tells it to her. This book is full of twists and turns. It starts out at a slow pace setting up a strong background and picks up once Nathan gains entry into Auschwitz. Nathan must perform an amazing fete by getting himself into Auschwitz in order to escape with a specific scientist who may help end the war. From this point on I couldn’t put it down. The suspense was ‘killing’ me; I just had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. I couldn’t help but shed a few tears as her father tells the end of the story. Andrew Gross is an amazing author with real talent. He pulls you so deep into the plot that you can’t let go until the very end. This is a keeper. I’m looking forward to reading more novels by Andrew Gross.